Pavement surfaces, such as asphalt and concrete, are used to carry traffic, including vehicles (e.g., automobiles, bikes, construction equipment) and humans. Pavement surfaces may need to be marked for various reasons (e.g., divide lanes, identify different areas, provide directions, aesthetics). Pavement surfaces may be marked with paints, or different color polymer coatings (e.g., epoxy), but these markings often do not last a long time because they fade and/or wear off from the traffic riding thereon and/or exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.
In addition to marking the pavement surface, pavement surfaces may need additional friction on portions thereof (e.g., sections with cornering, sections where braking is required) to increase the safety of the traffic traveling thereon. The additional friction may be provided by placing an overlay on the underlying pavement surface (substrate). The overlay may be provided by applying (overlaying) a wet polymer layer (e.g., epoxy) on the substrate and then applying aggregate onto the wet polymer layer prior to the polymer layer curing. The polymer layer may break down over time due to, for example, continued exposure to UV light. Furthermore, the polymer layer may be thermally incompatible with the pavement surface which may result in delamination of the epoxy from the pavement surface or damage to the pavement surface.
Polymer cements have also been used as the overlay material that provides friction on trafficked pavement surfaces. Polymer cements can also be produced in different colors for delineation and demarcation, and are able to receive traffic and are durable on their own. However, the polymers utilized in these materials are typically acrylic latex polymers (wet polymers) which result in high air voids within the polymer cement. The air voids lead to the polymer cement being porous which enables water to reach the underlying pavement surface without a means of escape. Furthermore, the air voids result in the polymer cement layer being more susceptible to freeze thaw, wear, abrasion and friction loss. Moreover, the use of wet polymers may result in a thin polymer layer forming on the surface and depending on the temperature and humidity during installation may have accelerated curing compared to the rest of the polymer cement layer which commonly results in surface tension cracks.